TSS-EMOTE, a refined protocol for a more complete and less biased global mapping of transcription start sites in bacterial pathogens

Bacteria rely on efficient gene regulatory mechanisms to switch between genetic programs when they are facing new environments. Although this regulation can occur at many different levels, one of the key steps is the initiation of transcription. Identification of the first nucleotide transcribed by the RNA polymerase is therefore essential to understand the underlying regulatory processes, since this provides insight on promoter strength and binding sites for transcriptional regulators, and additionally reveals the exact 5' untranslated region of the transcripts, which often contains elements that regulate translation.